To the cruddy little transport hub of Surat Thani on Sunday, a trip Tim expected to take 10 hours from Prachuap Khiri Khan. Happily it's actually more like 6...but as there is zero to do in Surat Thani, and the hotel scene leaves room for improvement, I sort of wish we'd just hopped a bus from there across to Railay immediately. Anyway, spent the afternoon and evening killing time at Swenson's American Ice Cream Shop, and up first thing yesterday to get the air-con bus the three hours to Krabi province, on Thailand's west coast.
Tim and Cheryl and about half the group are staying on the east, mostly on Koh Samui and Koh Phangan, and Corrie's going to Koh Tao for a diving course. David and I have already been out there (and it is gorgeous), so have come west to the Andaman Sea with Louise, Richard and Denis, and booked ourselves into the Railei Beach Club. Luxe! Amy and her mom (Hi, Carol!) are also here, having spent a few days on Koh Lanta, and Debbie looks like she may be heading down after her Independent Travels to Hanoi. Tee & Le were on the same bus as us over here, and are roving the west as well, on their own.
We got a bus from Surat Thani for 140 baht each for the 3 hour trip, then after a teensy bit of a clusterfu*k in Krabi itself (how many bus stations can one town really have? I hate independent travel), then hopped a longtail in what I personally think were vicious and dangerous seas (though no one else seems to be of this opinion) with our Tesco shopping for the 10 minute trip to Railay.
RBC is one of the very few places in Thailand where you can rent a real house, and having had quite enough of hotels and camping in the last 5 months, we are all very excited about plural rooms and a kitchen and whatnot. Our house is called Baan Duong Dow, or House of Shooting Stars. It's all dark wood in the Thai style, raised up into the trees on stilts, with fans and mosquito nets and posh bathrooms that have showers open to the sky...it's 100 meters from the beach and backs onto limestone karst mountains, has a hammock and big airy decks, and is quite perfect. The kitchen may be the most exciting bit for us--when you haven't been able to stand in the front of an open fridge and stare blankly at a range of snack options for five months, this activity takes on new resonance. We made spaghetti the first night and were all terribly excited about it. The sheets and towels were arranged like fans and scattered with exotic flowers when we arrived. I miss luxury.
Railay does have plenty of places to eat, and last night we had dinner at the Railay Bay Resort's restaurant (in the middle of a fantastic monsoon) with Amy and her mum...but as everything has to be boated in (Railay is a peninsula, but blocked from the mainland by said limestone karsts), it's really cheaper to eat at home. Plus the fridge is very exciting. Lousie and Richard went off on a boat this morning, braving the sea to provide for the rest of the pack...they are our own Tim & Cheryl. Being a peninsula, this place has something of a split personality. East Railay is a mangrove beach, shallow and muddy and, I think, quite interesting looking. Most of the longtail boats come up here, and the cheaper accomodation is all over here...which ranges from really stylish places to some cruddy backpack lodges swarming with faux-rastas and places called things like 'Skunk Bar'. However, it's a five minute walk to West Railay, which. Is. Gorgeous. And is where we are.
The beach is a wide swathe of fine white sand nestled between two towering peaks--these are dripping with rock climbers (why, people?). It's lined with swaying palms, and rocked by a pale blue surf that's just high enough to play in. There is wifi in the clubhouse, and cold beer in the cooler, and I think I might just stay forever.
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